Vanessa Corry (2000)

Physical attractiveness has been shown to affect individuals on many levels of social interactions. Individuals are affected by the physical attractiveness of others whether they are conscious of its effects or not, and it plays a role in almost every daily encounter that humans experience. Although research has been conducted that demonstrates the amount to which physical attractiveness influences a person’s success in social interactions, little has been conducted that examines the origins of a person’s ideas and conceptions of physical attractiveness. One would assume that perceptions of physical attractiveness derive from several sources including societal influence, family perceptions and those that are specific to and representative of a certain age group.

Past research demonstrates that an individual’s perception of their physical attractiveness and self-esteem can vary according to the situation and/or surrounding others. When an individual is placed in a situation with physically attractive same-sex individuals, the individual’s perceptions of his or her own physical attractiveness may become distorted and vary (Kenrick, Montello, Gutierres & Trost, 1993, Thorton & Moore, 1993). Past research also shows that certain situations can cause distortion of self-esteem (Kenrick & Gutierres, 1979). It has also been demonstrated that a young woman’s self-perception of physical attractiveness are similar to her mother’s views and therefore may be derived from her mother’s ideas of physical attractiveness (Gold & Yanof, 1985).

It was hypothesized that a mother’s physical attractiveness essentially trickles down into her daughter’s view of the importance of physical attractiveness. In other words, if a mother values looking her best and is physically attractive, her daughter will also hold a high regard for physical attractiveness and idealize a high physical attractiveness standard. It was also hypothesized that a daughter would exhibit a higher sense of self-esteem and rate herself as more physically attractive if she believes her mother to be physically attractive. Finally, it was believed a correlation would be seen between the closeness of the mother-daughter bond and her daughter’s self-esteem.

Thirty-eight participants were administered three questionnaires including the Importance of Physical Attractiveness Questionnaire, which analyzed each participant’s views of physical attractiveness, the Mother’s Physical Attractiveness/Mother-Daughter Relationship Questionnaire, which looked at participants’ views of their mothers’ physical attractiveness and of their mother-daughter relationship and the Rosenburg Self-esteem Questionnaire.

Results from each questionnaire were averaged and analyzed using one-way ANOVA tests. No significance was found, however this is thought to be due to an under-represented sample size of distant and moderate mother-daughter relationships. Only two individuals were categorized as having moderate or distant relationships.